Essay on biofuels and the energy crisis

Chloroplast and Thylakoid In photosynthetic bacteria, the proteins that gather light for photosynthesis are embedded in cell membranes.

Biofuels are combustible fuels created from biomass. The term biofuel is usually used to reference liquid fuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel that are used as replacements for transportation fuels like petroleum, diesel and jet fuel [1].

Biofuels can also include solid fuels like wood pellets and biogas or syngas — however in this summary we will focus on liquid fuels. There are two main types of biofuels — ethanol and biodiesel [1]. The simplest way to distinguish between the two is to remember ethanol is an alcohol and biodiesel is an oil.

Ethanol is an alcohol formed by fermentation and can be used as a replacement for, or additive to, gasoline whereas biodiesel is produced by extracting naturally occurring oils from plants and seeds in a process called transesterification.

Biodiesel can be combusted in diesel engines. Biofuels are grouped by categories - first generation, second generation, and third generation — based on the type of feedstock the input material used to produce them. First generation biofuels are produced from food crops. For ethanol, feedstocks include sugar cane, corn, maize, etc.

For biodiesel, feedstocks are naturally occurring vegetable oils such as soybean and canola [2]. Second generation biofuels are produced from cellulosic material such as wood, grasses, and inedible parts of plants.

This material is more difficult to break down through fermentation and therefore requires pre-treatment before it can be processed [2] Naik, S. Production of first and second generation biofuels: Third generation biofuels are produced using the lipid production from algae.

Biofuels are not as energy dense as conventional transportation fuels. Context Biofuels are currently the only viable replacement to hydrocarbon transportation fuels. Because biofuels can be used in existing combustion engines, minimal changes to infrastructure are required for their implementation [4] Janaun, J.

Perspectives on biodiesel as a sustainable fuel. This is their most prominent advantage as concerns about the environmental impacts of fossil fuels continue to rise.

In regions that do not have hydrocarbon resources but do have suitable agricultural conditions, biofuels provide an alternative to foreign fuel imports. They also come from a wide variety of sources and therefore can be produced in many regions.

Concerns about biofuels are usually centered around the fact that they are an agricultural product [1] Demirbas, A. Biofuels sources, biofuel policy, biofuel economy and global biofuel projections. One key concern about biofuels is that crops grown for fuel production compete with other natural resources, particularly food and water.

First generation biofuels use only edible crops which has led to biofuel crops displacing food sources in some regions.

Photosynthesis - Wikipedia

In addition, increased agriculture of any form often comes with concerns of deforestation, water and fertilizer use, which all have their own respective environmental and climate impacts.Well, biofuels could be the answer to your energy crisis.

Biofuels include items such as plants, like corn and soybeans, trees, cow manure, and many other animal types of manure. Biofuels are renewable, will never run out, and will also help our environment/5(1). AEI experts offer insightful analysis and commentary with op-eds from the nation's top newspapers and magazines, covering a variety of policy areas.

Biofuels is convenience because it does not require changes to switch to use compare with the other renewable energy, for example, solar energy and wind energy. (Want to know it, ).

For the transport vehicle, Use of bio-diesel and bio-petrol do not require any change in the vehicle engine (Times internet limit, ). Main articles: Energy economics and Renewable energy commercialization The macroeconomic implications of a supply shock-induced energy crisis are large, because energy is the resource used to exploit all other resources.

When energy markets fail, an energy shortage develops. I. If you are American, SSC endorses voting in this presidential election. Andrew Gelman, Nate Silver, and Aaron Edlin calculate the chance that a single vote will determine the election (ie break a tie in a state that breaks an Electoral College tie).

It ranges from about one in ten million (if you live in a swing state) to one in a billion (if you live in a very safe state). For this week’s feature story we stay in the UK, where plans for the Moorside nuclear power station have reportedly been scrapped now that Toshiba has pulled out of the project, leaving a “huge hole” in UK energy .